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^2d Se°sXr1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES {^"5^^3' 



William H. Parker 

(Late A Representative from South Dakota) 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 

Sixtieth Congress 
Second Session 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
February 14, 1909 






Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing 



WASHINGTON : : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : : 1909 



L(i4^ 






TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Proceedings in the House 5 

Prayer by Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D 6 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Hall, of South Dakota 8 

Mr. Gronna, of North Dakota 15 

Mr. Keifer, of Ohio 17 

Mr. Martin, of South Dakota 20 

Proceedings in the Senate 24 

3 



Death of Representative Willum H. Parker 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE 

Monday, December 7, igo8. 

Mr. Hall. Mr. Speaker, I offer the following resolution, 

which I send to the desk and ask to have read. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of the death 
of the Hon. William H. P.'iRKER, a Representative from the State of 
South Dakota, who died at his home in Deadwood, S. Dak., on June 25, 
1908. 

.Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of our deceased 
colleague, Hon. William H. Parker, the House do now adjourn. 

The resolution was agreed to. 

Accordingly, at i o'clock and 2 minutes p. in., the House 
adjourned until to-morrow at 12 o'clock noon. 

Tuesday, January ig, igog. 

Mr. M.^RTiN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for the 

immediate consideration of the following order. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Ordered, That there be a session of the House at 12 m., Sunday, Feb- 
ruary 14, for the delivery of eulogies on the life, character, and public serv- 
ices of the Hon. William H. Parker, late a Member of this House from 
South Dakota. 

The Speaker. Is there objection? [After a pause.] The 

Chair hears none. 

The question was taken, and the order was agreed to. 

5 



6 Proceedings in the House 

vSuNDAY, February 14, ipog. 

The House met at 12 o'clock m. 

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., as fol- 
lows : 

Our Father in heaven, we meet here on this sacred day to 
fulfill a sacred mission. We are come to pay a tribute of love 
and respect to men who serx^ed with distinction their country 
in the Congress of the United States, than which no greater 
service, if faithfully and efficiently done, can be rendered to 
one's country. Teach us how to be true to ourselves, how to be 
patriots in times of peace, how to be philanthropists, that we 
may feel bound to contribute something to our neighbor, to the 
public weal, and to the uplift of humanity; that we mav be, 
indeed, followers of the world's great Exemplar, and departing, 
leave the world a little better than we found it. 

Inspire the men who shall speak here to-day that they may 
bring out the sterling qualities of their departed colleagues; 
that they may be an example to those who shall come after 
them. Comfort us all with the blessed hope of the immortality 
of the soul, and be especially near to the families who mourn 
the loss of their dear ones that they may look forward with 
bright anticipations to a world where sorrows never come, and 
where they shall dwell together with their loved ones forever. 
And glory and honor be Thine through Him who revealed the 
immortality of the soul to the world. Amen. 

The Speaker pro tempore (Mr. OvERSTREET). The Clerk 
will report the first special order. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

On motion of Mr. Martin, by unanimous consent. 

Ordered, That there be a session of the House at 1 2 m. Sunday, February 
14, for the delivery of eulogies on the life, character, and public services of 
the Hon. \Vii^i.i.\m H. P.\rker, late a Member of this House from South 
Dakota. 



Proceedings in the House 7 

Mr. MarTix. Mr. Speaker, I offer- the following resolutions, 
which I send to the desk and ask to have read. 
The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of the death 
of Hon. William H. Parker, late a Member of this House from the State 
of South Dakota, which occurred at his home in the city of Deadvvood, 
June 26, 1908. 

Resolved, That the business of the House is now suspended that oppor- 
tunity may be given to pay tribute to liis memor)'. 

Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the deceased, and in 
recognition of his distinguished public service, the House at the conclusion 
of the memorial exercises of the day shall stand adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to the family 
of the deceased. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to 
the resolutions. 

The resolutions were agreed to. 



Memorial Addresses: William H. Parker 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Hall, of South Daxota 

Mt. Speaker: It is with mingled feelings of sadness and 
hope that I undertake to paj- this final tribute to my deceased 
friend and colleague in this body. It is with a feeling of sad- 
ness because of the loss of a companionship wliich I prized 
highly, and the memory of which I sacredly cherish. It is 
with a feeling of sadness because 1 realize that in his death his 
splendid family sustained the loss of a loving and devoted 
husband and father. It is with a. feeling of sadness because 
by his departure the State of South Dakota lost one of its most 
honored, respected, and patriotic citizens, one whose bright 
intellect and sturdy integrity have been interwoven in many 
ways in the fabric of her laws and social life. It is with a 
feeling of hope that what has been our loss has been his gain. 
It is with a feeling of hope because he has departed from this 
world of sickness, pain, trouble, and sorrow, and has gone to a 
sphere of existence where these are unknown, where all is 
brightness and happiness and peace. 

We can not approach the subject of death with aught but 
reverence. It is the great unexplainable mystery. Sages and 
philosophers for ages have vainly endeavored to discover the 
source of life and the effect of death. It is the secret which 
the Onmipotent One has wisely and mercifully withheld from 
us. But enough has been revealed to us that we may know 
that life does not end at the grave. As the new-born infant 



Address of Mr. Hall, of South Dakota g 

instinctively takes nourishment at the mother's breast, so 
every human being, though unlearned and uncultured, has 
within his breast the instinctive feeling of immortality. It has 
been said that "the gods conceal from men the happiness of 
death that they may endure life." 

I shall allude briefly to some of those principal incidents 
which, Hke milestones, mark and indicate our lamented col- 
league's upright life, his noble character, and his patriotic and 
active civil and military service. Willi.^m H. Parker was 
born May 5, 1847, enlisted in the Union Army May 27, 1861, at 
Portsmouth, N. H., and was mustered into service, to take 
effect the same date, as a musician, in Company H, Second 
New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry, to serve three years, and 
was discharged from the ser\'ice August 28, 1861, at Bladens- 
burg, Md., being unfit for duty as a drummer. • 

He was again enrolled September 4, 1862, at Keene, N. H., 
and was mustered into service September 22, 1862, at Concord, 
N. H., as a private. Company G, Fourteenth New Hampshire 
Volunteer Infantry, to serve three years. He was transferred 
some time in January or February, 1864, to Company A, Sixth 
Regiment Invalid Corps, which organization was afterwards 
designated Company A, Sixth Regiment U. S. Veteran Reserve 
Corps. He was mustered out of service, as of that company 
and regiment, April 28, 1865, at Cincinnati, Ohio, to enable him 
to accept promotion as second lieutenant in the Sixth U. S. 
Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered into ser\'ice April 29, 
1865, at Cincinnati, Ohio, as second lieutenant Company C, 
Sixth U. S. Volimteer Infantry, to serve three years, and was 
mustered out and honorably discharged the service with the 
company October 15, 1866, at Fort Kearney, Nebr. He was 
brevetted first lieutenant of volunteers March 13, 1865, for 
faithful and meritorious services. 



lo Memorial Addresses: William H. Parker 

He married Miss Clara E. Thomas, of Washington, D. C, 
January 27, 1867, the result of the union being 11 children, 8 
of whom are living. Graduated from the law department of 
the Columbian University, Washington, D. C, class of 1868. 
Was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of the District 
of Columbia immediately after his graduation. Appointed col- 
lector of internal revenue of Colorado Territory by General 
Grant, President, June 24, 1874. Resigned July, 1876, upon 
his appointment as assistant United States attorney of Colo- 
rado Territory. Was subsequently appointed .United States 
attorney of Colorado. Removed to Deadwood, Dak., July, 
1877, where, since said time up to the time of his death, he 
engaged in the practice of his profession. Was elected a mem- 
ber of the constitutional convention of the proposed State of 
South Dakota June 30, 1885. November 3, 1885, was elected 
a member of the state senate from Lawrence County, but owing 
to the fact that South Dakota was not admitted as a State 
until 1889, he did not serve. Was elected a member of the 
house of representatives of South Dakota in 1880. Was elected 
states attorney of Lawrence County in November, 1902, and 
reelected in 1904. Was elected to the Sixtieth Congress Novem- 
ber, 1906. He departed this life at Deadwood, S. Dak., June 
26, 1908, in the sixty-first year of his age. 

Colonel Parker while in this body was a member of the 
Committee on the Militia and of the Committee on Indian 
Affairs, and it is somewhat indicative of the generosity of his 
nature and of his interest in military affairs that of the thirty- 
odd bills which he introduced in the last session of Congress 
two-thirds at least were bills either for pensions or otherwise 
for the relief of worthy and distressed soldiers and the widows 
of soldiers. His death occurred within a month after he had 



Address of Mr. Hall, of South Dakota 1 1 

left Washington, where he had been in faitliful attendance upon 
this House. 

I had known Colonel Parker for upward of twenty years, 
but became more intimately acquainted with him during the 
last year of his life. I had known him as an able lawyer, as a 
member of the constitutional convention, a member of the 
state legislature, as a worthy and respected citizen of the State. 
Later, upon closer acquaintance, we became friends. He was 
one of those friends who was such not only in fair weather, but 
in foul; not only in times of prosperity, but in tiijies of adver- 
sity and of trouble. Unfortunately his continued illness during 
the last session of this Congress prevented him from becoming 
intimately acquainted with many of his colleagues. To say 
that he or any man is without faults would be an exaggeration. 

We all have our faults. "To err is human, to forgive divine." 
His faults, if any, were such as are common to those of his 
generous nature and amiable disposition, and they were so 
few and of such minor importance that they were eclipsed' by 
his many virtues as the stars arfe eclipsed by the noonday sun. 
He could not see want and distress unrelieved, even to the 
extent of giving his last dollar. He came always to the relief 
of the afflicted. 

Going to the Territory of Dakota in 1877 and locating at 
Dead wood, then a mining camp, he was one of those hardy 
pioneers who materially assisted in building up a splendid 
commonwealth. He was one of those who assisted in bringing 
order out of chaos, in subduing the lawless and turbulent ele- 
ment which is usually found in an early mining camp; and he 
Uved to see it develop into the richest hundred square miles 
in the world, populated by a law-abiding, peaceful, industrious, 
and prosperous people. One might inquire why with all this 



12 Memorial Addresses: William H. Parker 

opportuiiiiy he did not accumulate great wealth. The answer 
is very simple. His generous nature and his ever-present desire 
to assist others would not permit it. In the death of Colonel 
Parker the vState has sustained a great loss. He took an 
important part in framing the constitution of that State, a 
constitution which is generally conceded, to be a model. 

As a member of the state fegislature he was the author of 
many meritorious bills which became crystallized into the laws 
of that State. As a lawyer he was noted for his ability as a 
counselor and as an advocate, as well as for his fidelity to his 
clients. The reports of the supreme court of the State bear 
evidence of his legal ability and his success at the bar of that 
tribunal. The Lawrence County bar, of which he was a re- 
spected member, paid a beautiful final tribute to his memory 
by resolutions adopted by that body. I had the honor to be a 
member of the committee which attended his burial service, 
and was impressed, as his body lay in state in the city hall of 
Deadwood, by the great number of sympathetic friends and 
neighbors who catne to look for the last time upon the face of 
their departed friend. The ceremonies were conducted under 
the auspices of his old comrades, the Grand Army of the 
Republic. 

When Colonel Parker was elected state's attorney of Law- 
rence County he found that the laws prohibiting gambling and 
regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors were, as they had 
been for years, flagrantly violated. In obedience to his dut}' as 
he saw it, and with the courage, to express and enforce his con- 
victions, he closed the gambling joints and caused their appa- 
ratus to be destroyed and compelled the saloon keepers to obey 
the law. To him the grateful people of his county extended the 
due meed of praise for having suppressed and cleansed the 
community of these vices. 



Address of Mr. Hall, of South Dakota 13 

Realizing his failing health and evidently with a premonition 
of death, Colonel Parker told me a few days before I left 
Washington for home that he had selected a site in Arlington 
Cemetery where he desired that he might be buried, and there 
in that beautiful city of the soldier dead, overlooking the placid 
and historic waters of the Potomac, now lie the earthly remains 
of my colleague. 

It is only in those homes where the grim destroyer has entered 
that the full import of death is felt. The cheering voice is 
silent, the willing, helpful hands are still. The empty chair, 
the vacant place at the table, are silent but eloquent evidences 
of him \vho has gone. To the bereaved ones the sun does not 
shine as brightly or the birds sing as sweetly as before. The 
charms and pleasures of life have lost their attractiveness. 
The one who has gone before is as a magnet that calls them to 
heavenly thoughts and things. Yet it is not despair, but resig- 
nation. He has gone to await their coming, and with that faith 
in immortality which inspires hope, they know that they will 
meet again. We may strew his grave with beautiful flowers 
expressive of our love and esteem, we may here recount his 
vi^-tues and his services to his country and express our sym- 
pathy to the bereaved family, but hope and comfort must come 
to them from a source infinitely higher than from us poor falli- 
ble mortals. I know of no more concrete, hopeful, authorita- 
tive assurance than that which is contained in the words of our 
Saviour when He said: 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word and believeth 
on Him who sent Me shalt have everlasting life and shall not come into 
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. 

The final summons came to our beloved colleague at an age 
when the twilight shadows of life were lengthening toward the 
east, and surrounded by his loved ones to whom he was so 
devotedly attached, he fearlessly, calmly, and peacefully en- 



14 Memorial Addresses: William H. Parker 

tered into the great beyond. But let us indulge in the hope of a 

happy reunion with him and our other friends and dear ones 

who have gone before in a place where there are no tears and 

no more partings. 

Eternal Hope! when yonder spheres sublime 
Peal'd their first notes to sound the march of time, 
Thy joyous youth began, but not to fade 
WTien all thy sister planets have decay 'd. 
When wrapt in flames the clouds of ether glow, 
And heaven's last thunder shakes the wx)rld below, 
Thou, undismay'd, shalt o'er the ruins smile, 
And light thy torch at Nature's funeral pile. 



Address oj My. Gronna, of North Dakota 15 



Address of Mr. Gronna, of North Dakota 

Mr. Speaker: It is fitting when one of our number lays down 
his work and consigns himself to the last sleep, that we pause 
for a brief moment and pay tribute to his memory. It is well 
to consider his life, his endeavors, and his achievements, that we 
may learn from his failures and rejoice in his successes. 

We have assembled to-day to honor the memory of \\'ili,i.\.m 
H. Parker, of South Dakota. At the time of his death I had 
known him but a comparatively short time, but I had learned 
to regard him with the highest esteem. Born in 1847, he was 
but 14 vears of age when the civil war broke out. He answered 
the call to arms, however, and gave five years of his early youth 
in eager, unselfish service to his country. At the end of the war 
he took up his work in the walks of civil life. He graduated 
from the law department of what was then the Columbian Uni- 
versitv in this city in 1S68 and was immediately admitted to the 
bar. He was appointed collector of internal revenue of Colorado 
by President Grant in 1874, was appointed assistant United 
States attorney of Colorado in 1876, and was subsequently ap- 
pointed United States attorney of Colorado. In July, 1877, he 
moved to Deadwood, Dak., and engaged in the practice of law. 

His neighbors, however, soon recognized his abilities and called 
upon him to take part in public life. He served as a member 
of the constitutional convention in 1885, served as a member of 
the South Dakota legislature, as states attorney of his county, 
and as a Member of Congress, and in every office that he was 
called to fill he performed his duties faithfully and did his work 
well. He had served but a short time in Congress when an all- 



l6 Memorial Addyesscs: William H. Parker 

wise Providence cut his life short, but his previous training in 
public life stood him in good stead and enabled him to do effi- 
cient work from the first. All his associates felt that had he 
been permitted to serve a few more years, he would have left 
his mark on much important legislation. 

He had a keen intellect, showed marked ability as a lawyer, 
and was a leader of men. The high devotion to his country that 
he showed when, as a mere boy. he risked his life in her service 
was always evident in his performance of all public duties. His 
genial disposition won him many friends, and there are few men 
who go to their graves more sincerely loved and mourned by 
his associates than \\'ili.i.\m H. P.\rker. And sincerely regret- 
ting his departure, we take leave of him with the words: 

His faults write upon the sands; his virtues on the tablets of our 
memories. 



Address of Mr. Kcifer, of Ohio 17 



Address of Mr. Keifer, of Orao 

Mr. SpEakkr: In earlier days in the Congress of the United 
States we were in the habit of stopping in the course of our 
business day's legislation to recount the history and speak of 
the character and commemorate the memory of our dead. 
Perhaps it is well now that we take the Sabbath day to come 
here for a like purpose. I was not, Mr. Speaker, intimately 
acquainted with the Member from South Dakota, Willia.m II. 
Parker. He came into this Congress after a long life of prepa- 
ration for the work that confronted him here. I can not speak 
of his personal achievements in civil life nor of his long and 
gallant career in the Army of the Union in times of war. I 
knew his genial character, and I was drawn to him because he 
was a soldier in the Union Army in the civil war. With a rare 
exception here and there, he was the youngest of those who 
went into the civil war to fight for the preservation of the Union. 
A child {14 years of age), in fact, when he first enlisted in 1861 , 
blossoming with youth and not yet into mature manhood, he 
went with his regiment and comrades of the State of New Hamp- 
shire to the field. Difficulties always arose in such cases with 
persons so young, and yet he persisted, and with a second enlist- 
ment, and so on, to the end of the civil war. 

Like some others who showed their military spirit and cour- 
age in that war, he became a solider, or, rather, an officer, in 
the United States Array without preparation in the military 
sense or in an educational sense for military duties. He became 
a natural soldier, and by serving in the field, in campaigns, 
bivouacking with the soldiers without tents, and in battle he 
acquired the true inspiration of an officer. His war experience 
78126 — H. Doc. 1513, 60-2 2 



i8 Memorial Addresses: William H . Parker 

stood at the close of the civil war with him for a graduation at 
the Military Academy at West Point. At 19 years of age he 
became a lieutenant in the United States Army. There were 
few others who went into the Regular Army under like circum- 
stances. The present senior colonel of the Quartermaster's De- 
partment of the United States Army was a marked example of 
a child going into the civil war and from that, with an interval 
in civil life, to service in the Regular Army, and he now stands 
as the senior colonel and quartermaster in that great depart- 
ment of the United States Army. I refer to Col. John L. Clem, 
once known as the " Drummer boy of Chickamauga." But, Mr. 
Speaker, we are to speak of the dead. We often hesitate and 
sometimes fail to stop in our daily career to honor the dead, 
but look forward to the living. I had a peculiar sensation come 
over me a few months ago when I had climbed to a mountain 
summit in the Vosemite Park, California, and up to the great 
Mariposa trees. These trees range in height from 200 to 350 
feet, higher perhaps. I looked around at that marvelous growth 
of nature, and as I rode along I came across a great redwood 
tree lying prone full length upon the ground. 

1 looked in amazement and with mingled sorrow and regret 
at that lone, fallen tree which had stood through the centuries, 
as it lav amongst its living, standing comrades. But what a 
curiosity to inspect, to take its measurements in length and 
diameter, and see what nature had produced there in that won- 
derful mountain park ! My interest centered around this mam- 
niotli tree, dead, decayed; but in the providence of things 
earthly it had fulfilled its mission and though fallen was mon- 
arch of all of them. 

So we turn to those who have fallen among us here and view 
what thev have been in life and see that they, though dead, 
still have fulfilled their mission on earth among men. 



Address of Mr. Kcijer, of Ohio 19 

The last fiscal year showed that of those soldiers of the civil 
war who drew pensions 23,353 l»ad died. That great, grand 
army of the Union is to pass away. Nature makes this inevi- 
table. But Mr. P.XRKER as one of them fulfilled his duty with 
them and did his full share from childhood to manhood, which 
came earlv with him, and aided in accomplishing the greatest 
thing for civilization and humanity and personal liberty that 
has ever been accomplished in all the ages. 

From the decrees of war, that war from 1861 to 1865, we 
mark a new era all around the world. We have seen, and we 
are still seeing, and we shall see, the glories of the things accom- 
plished in our own country, but that does not tell half the 
tale. The libertv of man has extended to autocratic Russia, to 
other lands where oppression fell heavily upon the masses; and 
while we are here to-day, the people in Persia, taking spirit 
from what occurred here in our civil war, are fighting for civil 
libertv. And even the Sultan of Turkey is negotiating with 
the voung, spirited Mohammedans and granting them a share 
of human libertv. This is all traceable back, in my opinion, to 
what was accomplished here in this land by the civil war. 

I have said enough, Mr. Speaker, to bear my testimony to 
that highest thing incident to a citizen of our country, to wit, 
patriotic dutv, which inspired our deceased colleague here. In 
the performance of duty none can stand higher than William 
H. Parker, whose life and character we commemorate here 
to-dav. 



20 Memorial Addresses: William H. Parker 



Address of Mr. Martin, of South Dakota 

Mr. SpBaker: Col. William H. Parker represented the 
State of South Dakota as a Member of this House of Repre- 
sentatives onlv a httle more than a year, when he was stricken 
suddenly and died on the 26th day of last June. 

For twentv-eight vears we had been residents of the same 
town and have practiced law before the same courts. In the 
dailv life of the citizen and in the forum of the courts I have 
had good opportunity to test his quality as a man and public 
servant. He succeeded me as a Member of this body, and now, 
by reason of the fatality of death, I am in turn succeeding him. 
It is not inappropriate, therefore, that I should offer this modest 
tribute in his memory. 

Colonel Parker had the instincts and bearing of the soldier. 
The war of the rebellion was on during the years of his young 
manhood. He enlisted in the Union Army before that struggle 
had proceeded ninety days, and he was still wearing the blue 
when the confederate forces surrendered under General Lee. 
Indeed, he continued in the Regular Army until the fall cf 
1866, when he resigned from the service at Kearney, Nebr. 
The bearing and deportment of the military gentleman re- 
mained with him to the end of his life. 

The events of the war of the rebellion have long since passed 
into history. Let us hope that the tremendous Issues involved 
in that mighty struggle may never be lost to the understanding 
and to the benefit not only of this land of ours, but of universal 
humanity. 

Every student of our Constitution is necessarily struck with 
the fact, historical as it is, that in at least one particular this 



Address of Mr. Martin, of South Dakota 21 

great instrument, this'charter of liberty of our ])eoplc, was the 
result of compromise. It is true that that compromise grew 
out of a condition — a condition b\- which much of the labor of 
the vSouthern .States was performed by slaves; and it is prob- 
able — indeed, I think it is generally agreed by historians — that 
without the making of that compromise our Constitution would 
not have been formed. That compromise was to the effect that 
the African slave trade should continue for a period not to 
exceed twenty years, and that the slave condition in the par- 
ticular States where it had become established as an institution 
might continue indefinitely. Those were the provisions placed 
in that immortal instrument which tended toward slavery 
rather than universal liberty. It was a yielding of principle to 
expediency. In the progress of years it became manifest, as 
was said by the immortal Lincoln, that this land could not per- 
manentlv endure half slave and half free. Slavery was there- 
fore the irritating cause of the rebellion, but the permanency, 
the existence, indeed, of the Nation itself, was the rallying call, 
that summoned the loyal men of the North and the South to 
the defense of the Union. 

Colonel Parker, young man as he was, devoted more years 
of his life to the protection of that principle of union in this 
Nation than was accorded to but few patriots. That struggle 
developed. It cost an infinite amount of treasure. It cost in 
the neighborhood of a million of young lives, the very flower of 
the manhood of America; but it was worth all that it cost. As 
a result, our flag emerged from the smoke of battle to float for- 
ever over a Nation every individual of which shall be forever 
free. The Constitution was purged of its iniquity, and it is 
now one consistent whole, based upon the principles of univer- 
sal liberty. 

If this Constitution was worthy to be venerated before the 
civil war, certainlv it is now entitled to the love and to the 



22 Memorial Addresses: William H. Parker 

patriotic devotion of the people of our country for all time to 
come. 

Colonel Parker was a native of New Hampshire, and mar- 
ried in the city of Washington in 1867. He graduated from the 
law department of the Columbian University, now the George 
Washington University, in this city, in 1868. From that time 
forth he became identified with the development of the West, 
and lived continuously in the West, first in Colorado and then 
in the Territory of Dakota and subsequent State of vSouth 
Dakota. 

It is in his profession as a practicing lawyer that Colonel 
Parker is best known, and it is here that he carved out his 
most eminent career. He was made assistant United States 
attornev for Colorado Territory by President Grant in 1874, 
and became later United States attorney for the State of Colo- 
rado. He moved to Deadwood, in the then Territory of 
Dakota, in 1877, and for the thirty-one years until his death 
he was in the constant practice of his profession. 

He was an eminent and gifted lawyer. By natural talent 
and education he was well equipped for his profession. An 
orator of ability, possessing an unerring judgment in discover- 
ing the strong points of his case, with consummate skill in the 
presentation of his cause to the jury, he made a most formida- 
ble legal antagonist, particularly in the trial of jury cases. His 
specialty was the criminal law, and for years he was easily the 
leading criminal lawyer in western Dakota. 

Near the- close of his life he served two terms as state's attor- 
nev for the county in which he lived. He brought to the serv- 
ice of the State and county a proficiency acquired during a 
long career in the practice of his profession. As public prose- 
cutor he discharged the official duties of his position with an 
abilitv and success seldom equaled and never excelled in the 



Address of Mr. Marti it, of South Dakota 23 

administration of the state's attorne\ship of his couiitv. It was 
during his term that a moral movement for the enforcement 
of the laws against gambling was undertaken and successfully 
prosecuted. The credit for this is due, in large part, to the 
courage and ability of Colonel Parker in the fearless discharge 
of his duty as prosecuting attorney. The results of that move- 
ment have been far-reaching and will be permanent. 

The fatal malady which overcame him was upon him for two 
or three weeks before his death. It was apparent to his friends 
and to himself that the end was at hand. His courage was 
unfailing. He responded to the summons of the "grim de- 
stroyer" with fortitude and confidence. He approached his 
grave^ 

As one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him, 
.\nd lies down to pleasant dreams. 

His body rests in Arlington Cemetery, in appropriate recog- 
nition of his long and honorable service in defense of his country 
and in suggestive nearness to the scenes of his gallant young 
manhood. 



24 Memorial Addresses: William H . Parker 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE 

Tuesday, December 8, iqo8. 

MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE. • 

The message communicated to the Senate the intelligence of 
the death of Hon. William H. Parker, late a Representative 
from the State of South Dakota, and transmitted resolutions 
of the House thereon. 

Mr. Gamble. Mr. President, I submit the resolution which 
I send to the desk and ask for its adoption. 

The resolution was read, considered by unanimous consent, 
and unanimously agreed to, as follows: 

Rcsohcd, That tlie Senate has heard with deep sensihiUty the announce- 
ment of the death of Hon. \VrLLi-\.M H. P.arker, late a Representative 
from the State of South Dakota. 

Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased Representative whose death has been announced the Senate do 
now adjourn. 

The Vice-President. The question is on agreeing to the 
resolution submitted by the Senator from vSouth Dakota. 

The resolution was unanimously agreed to; and (at 2 o'clock 
p. m.) the Senate adjourned until to-morrow, Wednesday, 
December 9, 1908, at 12 o'clock meridian. 



